Citation Nr: 18145749
Decision Date: 10/30/18	Archive Date: 10/30/18

DOCKET NO. 16-25 862
DATE:	October 30, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to an initial compensable evaluation for bilateral hearing loss is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served in the Army on active duty from January 1985 to May 1987.
This matter is before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a March 2014 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). 
In May 2016, the Veteran requested a Board hearing on his appeal on the Form 9, Appeal to Board of Veterans’ Appeals. The Veteran withdrew this request by telephone in July 2017. Accordingly, the Board considers the Veteran’s hearing request to be withdrawn. 
Entitlement to an initial compensable evaluation for bilateral hearing loss
In April 2018 statements, the Veteran’s spouse and two of his friends reported that they had observed his hearing loss getting worse in the last several years.  
The Veteran received a VA examination in September 2017, but these results were marked by the examiner as inadequate for rating purposes. The last adequate VA audiometry test of record was on June 2016 VA examination.
As the lay statements submitted by the Veteran and his friends and family indicate a worsening of his bilateral hearing loss disability since his last hearing examination, the Veteran should be provided with a new VA examination to ascertain the current severity and manifestations of his service-connected bilateral hearing loss disability.
Furthermore, a VA audiology note from September 2013 indicates that audiometric testing was completed and that the results were contained in the VA Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS). Additionally, an August 2017 VA audiology note indicates that the Veteran was seen for a comprehensive audiological re-assessment. However, the actual report of the audiometry which was conducted on this date is not of record and could possibly contain information that supports a higher rating for the Veteran’s bilateral hearing loss disability. These audiometric reports should therefore be obtained on remand. 
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1. Obtain the Veteran’s September 2013 and August 2017 VA audiometric reports and associate them with the claims file. If it is unclear from any audiometry results whether speech discrimination testing was done using the Maryland CNC word list, please seek clarification regarding what type of speech discrimination testing was done.
2. Obtain the Veteran’s VA treatment records for the period from August 2017 to the present, including the results of any audiometry testing completed during this time period. If it is unclear from any audiometry results whether speech discrimination testing was done using the Maryland CNC word list, please seek clarification regarding what type of speech discrimination testing was done. 
3. Schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the current severity of his service-connected bilateral hearing loss. All required tests, to include pure tone threshold and controlled speech discrimination (Maryland CNC) testing, should be performed. The examiner must also provide a full description of the effect of the Veteran’s hearing loss disability on his occupational functioning and daily activities. 
 
M. SORISIO
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	M. H. White, Associate Counsel